Minerva Research Group
Lifespan Changes in Memory Representations
How do we remember and why do we remember less when we age?
From a neuroscientific perspective, our memories are encoded in specific distributed patterns of neural activity, that is, these patterns can be regarded as memory fingerprints. During encoding of memories, specific representational patterns are formed (e.g., meeting a person for the first time). These can be reactivated during later recall (when seeing the person again). The more similar the reactivated pattern is to the original pattern, the more likely we are to retrieve a specific memory (it is easier to recognize a person if you meet her again in a similar context). In order to achieve optimal memory performance, patterns of different memories should be distinct whereas patterns of the same memory should be as similar as possible. To render memories durable, our brain spontaneously reactivates and thus strengthens novel patterns during rest and sleep periods.
We investigate how aging affects the distinctiveness and similarity of memory representations during memory formation, maintenance, and retrieval. Specifically, we want to understand whether age-related changes in the way how information is represented in the brain has consequences for memory performance of older adults. A second line of research targets age differences in the spontaneous reactivation of memories during wakefulness and sleep.
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The MERLIN project in which the Minerva Group is involved became part of a short TV report on how the brain learns. It was screened (in German) on ARD alpha in July 2018. Watch it here:
Campusmagazin: Wie tickt das Gehirn?